Hellboy Reboot Gets 2019 Release Date

UPDATE: Lionsgate has reached out and informed us that the widely-reported release date for Hellboy is not accurate, and that the studio has not set a date for the movie at this time. Lionsgate promises to update us all as soon as a release date has been officially decided upon.

Original Story: Lionsgate has announced that Neil Marshall's Hellboy reboot will be released on January 11th, 2019. There has been quite a bit of buzz about the reboot of the Hellboy franchise lately with our first look at David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Hellboy along with accusations of whitewashing while casting the part of Major Ben Daimo. The new R-rated reboot is said to be a dark affair that will properly tell the story of Hellboy without going overboard with gratuitous sex and violence just for the sake of the rating.

It was announced back in July that Lionsgate was in talks to take on the Hellboy reboot that had a tentative title as Rise of the Blood Queen, but has now been changed to simply Hellboy. ScreenRant reports that Lionsgate set January 11th, 2019 as the release date, but no official sources have confirmed the news. Lionsgate is expected to make an announcement later in the day. The Wikipedia page for the Hellboy reboot has this information included well, but anybody can go in and edit the information on that page at any time.

The new gritty story is being written with Hellboy comic book creator Mike Mignola and is directed by Neil Marshall, who has promised a dark and violent take on Big Red this time around. Marshall cites the success of R-rated comic book movies Logan and Deadpool as an inspiration for what can be done in a successful and tasteful manner when crafting a movie aimed at adults. Fans familiar with the Hellboy comics already know just how bloody they can be, so the reboot will take full advantage with the R-rating.

Yesterday we received our first ever look at David Harbour as Hellboy and just as Guillermo Del Toro's version of Ron Perlman as the titular character, the new look is very similar to the comics. One major difference is that Harbour's version has a more sinister feel to it as opposed to the kind of cuddly version that Perlman's portrayal ended up as. There are also some subtle changes to his arms, but all in all, the new pictures released look like they're there to fulfill Marshall's promise of a darker version of the character this time around.

The Hellboy reboot is shaping up to be a completely different take the Del Toro's vision of the character and that's just exactly what a reboot should do. A more horror-based Hellboy is certainly a welcome addition to the franchise, but many fans will always wonder about how Del Toro's Hellboy 3 would have turned out after waiting so long for it to happen. Regardless, fans of Hellboy are already excited about where Neil Marshall and David Harbour will take the character in the backdrop of the new R-rating and they won't have to wait too much longer to see the end result as January of 2019 is just around the corner.